Matt Albers

[Michael Trzinski]

Matthew James Albers was born in Houston, Texas in 1983. He was drafted in the 23rd round of the 2001 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros and made his MLB debut with the ‘Stros in 2006. Used as a starter in the minors, the man known as “Big Salt” made 20 starts in parts of two seasons for Houston, but then worked almost exclusively as a reliever for the rest of his 14-year major league career.

Albers was traded by Houston in December 2007 with four other players to Baltimore for Miguel Tejada. He spent three years with the Orioles, making 146 appearances (three starts) in that time frame before he was granted free agency in December 2010. Two weeks later, the Boston Red Sox signed him.

After 1 ½ seasons in Boston, Albers was traded again, this time with former Brewer Scott Podsednik to Arizona for closer Craig Breslow in July 2012. Five months later, Albers was part of a three team, nine-player deal which saw the Texas native going to Cleveland.

Albers spent one season each in Cleveland and then back in Houston, this time in the American League. He was granted free agency once again and was signed by the Chicago White Sox, where he spent two seasons, appearing in 88 games and winning four.

The right-hander was then signed by the Washington Nationals after the 2016 season and became a mainstay in the Nationals bullpen in 2017. Interestingly, Albers was released in spring training by the Nationals and then re-signed by them just a week later. He went on to lead the team with 63 appearances while posting a sparkling 1.62 ERA as the Nationals won the NL East for the second straight year.

Albers was granted free agency after the 2017 season and was signed by the Brewers. He spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons with the Crew, pitching in 100 games, winning 11 and saving five. His 67 appearances in 2019 ranked third on the team behind Alex Claudio and Junior Guerra.

The Brewers granted him free agency after the 2019 season and Albers has been out of professional ball since. In his big-league career, Albers pitched in 616 games, compiling a record of 47-48 with seven saves.

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